Rescued from the smoking ruins of an Arizona cult, twelve children return to normal lives. Five years later, they disappear. And a killing rampage stains the land with blood... There were four severed hands...they were paired and arranged in a row, all with palms facing up... For FBI agent Nick Barrows and child psychologist Dr. Sandy Price, the horror is unthinkable. The surviving children of the Patriots' Redeemer Congregation, resettled into normal homes, have gone underground-and officials connected with the cult's self-immolation are being slaughtered methodically-one by one. Sandy, who has adopted the youngest child, and Nick, whose career tanked after the cult's demise, start their own hunt for the children without government help. They face a formidable foe: children with access to millions of dollars, trained in explosives, poisons, and guerilla warfare, out to avenge the mad prophet who has twisted their souls. In a hair-raising thriller, racing on a knife-edge of suspense, Nick and Sandy plunge into a plot far more sinister than anyone could imagine-and a shocking, final confrontation no one should survive.. . .